Within the Ranks
by Jenna Cassie Herdz
Summary: John 'Reaper' Grimm is back with a new team. But this time, he has a couple of skirts making things interesting for himself and the other men on the team. Lenore Jones he has no problem with, but Penny Hunter is another story entirely.
1. One Name

**A/N:** welcome to my first Doom fanfic! first of all, i need to say that i only saw the movie, i never played any of the games. i do _**not**_ own Doom the movie, or the games or its characters. any new names that pop up are mine. enjoy!

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_**Chapter 1: One Name**_

"Almost home," he murmured to his twin, cradling her in his arms as the elevator took them toward the surface, away from the Ark, Olduvai and the atrocities they'd both endured for the UAC. He hardly registered the doors opening as he went over everything that had just happened in his mind. Gazing down at his sister he realized she was unconscious, but he could tell she was still alive…and fading fast.

"Where's the rest of the team?"

He shot his wide, green-hazel eyes at the marine standing in front of him, staring back at him in the same shock, a group of soldiers behind him. The back-up Portman had called for, he realized.

"The situation is contained," he replied in a raw voice as he stepped out of the elevator and toward the helicopter that had brought the back-up team. "Everyone's dead. The Ark is destroyed on Mars."

"S-Sir?!" the marine sputtered, whirling around to watch the other man split down the middle of the marines, not turning from heading toward the helicopter. "What do you mean?! What the hell happened over there?!"

John "Reaper" Grimm froze in his tracks and glanced at his sleeping sister before looking at the marine over his shoulder to murmur the ominous, mysterious words in a dark tone.

"You don't wanna know."

The marine swallowed and nodded slowly in understanding before John continued, "Sorry for draggin' you guys out here. Guess you went from back-up to clean-up crew in five seconds. It's a hell of a mess down there."

"What're _you_ gonna do?" one of the marines asked and he looked at his sister again.

"I gotta take care of my sister," he replied and looked back to the leader of the team. "It's all yours, Sergeant."

His heart clenched with guilt at the rank but before it could show on his face he turned back to the helicopter and carried his sister toward it. The pilot frowned in wonder at the marine as the team in front of the elevator glanced at each other, not knowing really what to do.

"Get us back to the base," John ordered, tiredly as he sat on one side of the belly of the chopper, cradling Sam in his lap. "She doesn't have much time."

He didn't hear the pilot respond, nor did he realize it when the chopper lifted and started their ride back to the base. He stared down at his sister, bringing a bloodied hand up to gently move a strand of blonde hair from her face. John swallowed before pulling her closer and resting his cheek against her forehead to kiss it, gently.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," he murmured.

He didn't notice anything else as he listened to his twin's steady heart beat and breathing. He didn't notice the helicopter land and the engine cut, or one of his COs marching toward the chopper.

"Grimm?!" he shouted over the slowing blades above. "Where's the rest of your team?! I just got a call from the back-up team that you left them to clean up a huge mess in the Ark!"

John took a moment before he looked up at his superior with wide, glazed eyes. It was almost like he was in slow-motion and the rest of the world was in hyper-drive. The CO saw the haunting shadow over John's face and he dropped his tone from anger to concern.

"What happened, Marine?" he ordered and John opened his mouth to reply, but instead of giving words, his throat clenching and he gave a small strangled sound. He cleared his throat but this time, instead of giving the answer, he made a report.

"My sister needs medical attention," he murmured and the superior nodded before turning to some of the people behind him and nodding toward the siblings. When medical personnel came up to take Samantha Grimm from him, he shook his head, not letting her go as he stood to step out of the chopper and asked, "Where do I take her?"

The ambulance ride was silent, save for the siren as John still held Sam in his arms. He was afraid if he let her go he would lose all his strength, even _if_ he was superhuman now. The paramedics insisted he put her on the gurney, but he still wouldn't let her go. When the ambulance stopped he stood and walked out of the back, his body on auto-pilot, he took her into the hospital, the medical team behind him.

He was instantly swarmed by doctors, asking what was wrong, what were her medical conditions and how long ago everything had happened. He gave them their answers as briefly as he could, and somewhere in the shuffle, she ended up on a gurney being wheeled to an ER. He stopped, watching her being taken down the hall and suddenly felt like her was shaking all over. He wanted to go with her, but his feet weren't moving. His vision went blurry, and he suddenly found it very difficult to stand. He stumbled a bit in his spot and vaguely heard a voice next to him as his ears started ringing before the room started spinning, and his vision went completely black.

* * *

John Grimm slowly awoke to soft humming and lying down. He gave a frown but didn't open his eyes out of fear that he'd only make the headache he now had worse. The humming continued as he felt a cool, damp cloth sweep gently across his forehead that seemed to ease some of the pain in his head away enough for him to slowly open his eyes.

The first thing to greet his vision was a ceiling with fluorescent lights and when he turned his head to the left he saw a tall window with the heavy curtain drawn. He knew he was still in the hospital, the room was too sterile for him to be anywhere else. He slowly moved his gaze to his right and his frown deepened when he saw a red headed girl, no older than himself in a white blouse and black pants standing to one of end of the room where the sink was located on the counter.

The humming was coming from her, but he could only see her mid upper-arm length hair as she stayed facing away from him. She bobbed her head from side to side to the tune she was humming as she wrung out the cloth he'd felt on his head earlier. Lost in the tune and the mystery of this stranger, he didn't seem to notice when she turned around.

"Oh!" she chirped, making him shoot his gaze at her wide, honey gold eyes as she hurried toward his side with an ear to ear smile. "Good, you're awake. Maybe you can explain to me how you have so much blood on you when there's not a scratch on you?"

That sent him out of his trance with her when he answered the question silently. He went from, 'I'm superhuman,' to 'Samantha'.

"Where's Sam?" he asked her, not bothering to answer her question and making her frown when he threw his legs over the side of the bed to stand.

"You mean that girl you brought in?" she guessed standing with him and still frowning at how he'd recovered so quickly and was now walking toward the door. "She's in the OR. The doctors should be done with her any minute now." She stopped him just as he opened the door by placing a hand on his arm and pulling his attention to her fully. "Are you related to her?"

"She's my sister," he replied, secretly thankful the girl hadn't assumed she was his wife or girlfriend. It had creeped him out to no end when Duke had assumed that. Not to mention it angered him that the man had referred to her as a nice piece of ass.

"What's your name?" the girl wondered, sincere interest in her voice. He could tell she was just trying to help, but he needed to find Sam and get out of there.

"John Grimm," he replied and tried to head out of the room again but she stopped him again by pulling on his arm. He turned a burning gaze at her, but she only continued smiling, warmly.

"Alright, John Grimm," she nodded, pulling him back into the room. "The doctors know where you are, so maybe you should just chill out and wait until they're done doing their job and saving your sister, ok? They'll come get you when they're done."

She pulled him gently toward the bed again but he didn't move from the doorway.

"I can't sit here and do nothing," he argued, pulling his arm from her grip. "Thanks for taking care of me, but I gotta find Sam."

The girl sighed in defeat, placing her hands on her hips as he turned to head into the hallway of the hospital and toward a desk with a nurse sitting behind it. When he reached the desk and leaned against it too speak he jumped with a start to see the red-head lean next to him on his right. He looked at her in wonder and she looked back at him in wonder as well.

"Well, ask where she is," she urged, waving a hand toward the nurse behind the desk and he shook his shock away before turning toward the nurse.

"I need to find Samantha Grimm," he said, his twin being the only one with his full attention now. He could worry about the red-head later.

"Who are you?" the nurse asked, starting to look through the files on the computer in front of her.

"Her brother," he replied. "She's in an OR."

The nurse was silent for a moment as she worked on the computer then said, "She just got out of surgery. She's in room 539."

John said nothing as he darted down the hall and the red-head thanked the nurse before hurrying after him. She was barely able to keep up as he dodged past the people in the halls, gurneys being wheeled around and patients on IVs taking little walks. He glanced at the room numbers until he finally stopped in front of an open door and stared inside it with wide eyes.

He wasn't even out of breath thanks to the C-24 Sam had shot him with, but he felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of him when he saw her lying in a bed, still unconscious, hooked up to an IV with the heart monitor beeping out her steady heart beat.

The red head finally caught up with him as he started slowly into the room, and he heard her heavy breathing at the run but ignored it. All he saw, all he could think of, all that filled his senses was his sister, unmoving in the bed in front of him. Standing next to her, he stared at her sleeping face before his gaze trailed down her arm to her hand. He slipped his fingers between her thumbs and index finger to curl his fingers around her hand, gently.

"I just talked to the doctor," the girl with him murmured gently, coming up next to him. "He said she hit her head pretty bad, and her left leg is broken, but other than that, she'll be alright. She should be up in a little while."

John said nothing as he only stared down at Sam, willing her to wake up by gripping her hand a little tighter, but trying not to hurt her.

"My name is Penny, by the way. Penny Hunter," the red head continued, but John still didn't look at her as he kept his attention on Sam. "You're really worried, aren't you?"

"She's all I have left," John breathed, not even realizing he was speaking.

"I'm sorry," Penny murmured, gently placing a hand on his arm consolingly, but he still didn't look at her. "She'll be alright."

"I know," he mumbled, and it was true. He knew she'd be alright. She _had_ to be.

* * *

_One week later..._

John slammed the front door to his and Sam's small apartment, making her jump with a start in her seat on the couch, her casted leg up on the small coffee table. She stared wide, deep blue eyes at her brother as he muttered to himself and marched toward the hallway.

"Hey, wait!" she called, struggling to grab her crutches, but he stopped just before disappearing into the hall and turned to her.

"What?!" he snapped, obviously angry, and making her freeze to look at him.

"What happened?" she wondered.

"They promoted me!" he spat and Samantha frowned in confusion.

"Is that all?"

"They gave me my own team!" he barked.

"And…?" she trailed off, waiting for him to elaborate on what part sent him fuming.

"They stuck me with _two women_!" he growled before turning and stomping down the hall.

Sam stared at the empty space where he had been with raised brows of surprise. She was almost amused at his anger, but she knew he wouldn't like hearing that. She grabbed her crutches and stood up to head down the hall and toward his room. He'd stripped off his shirt and was about to drop his pants when she framed herself in the doorway.

"Might wanna wait before you do that," she warned, making him jump and pull his pants back up a bit too quickly. He groaned in pain and she let out a small chuckle, making him glare at her, but she only asked, "What's so bad about having women on your team?"

He looked at her incredulously as he zipped up his fly and marched toward her, saying, "_Six_ men with _two_ women living in the same barracks for months at a time?! There's _bound_ to be problems!"

"Problems from the six men, maybe," Sam retorted with a smirk.

"This is serious, Sam," he snapped. "Trust me, when Portman was on our team, all he ever talked and thought about was getting a piece of ass. With two girls around them all the time, one of them is bound to do more than just talk and think."

"That's what _you're_ there for, isn't it?" Sam replied as he walked toward his dresser on the other side of the room. "You can make sure that doesn't happen."

"I can't watch them all the time, Sam," he replied, pulling out a clean, faded black shirt and putting it on. "And that's not the point."

"Then what _is_ the point?" Sam asked as he approached her again, deciding not to change his pants right away.

"I can't have a couple of girls gumming up the works and worrying about breaking a nail or gettin' their hands dirty," he replied, flatly as he stepped around her and headed back down the hall toward the kitchen as Sam turned to stare at him incredulously. She turned so she could head down the hall and couldn't wait until her leg was fully healed and she could run after him and kick his ass in record time.

"Hey!" she called, turning into the kitchen. "Don't walk away from me! What makes you think these two girls are like that?!"

"All you girls are like that," he blurted, rummaging through the fridge as she stopped in the entrance.

"I'm not!" she spat. "These girls chose to be _marines_, John. They're not worried about getting their hands dirty or breaking a nail."

"You don't know that," John replied, a carton of milk in his hand which he took a swig straight from.

"Stop that!" Sam snapped as he closed the carton and stuck it back in the fridge. "I drink from that too, John!"

"We share genes, Sam," he retorted with an ever so slight smirk as he wiped his mouth on his arm. "A little spit isn't gonna kill you."

"It's not the spit, it's the rest of the crap you might have eaten," she shot back as he looked through the fridge again. "And don't try to change the subject! I bet if you took it easy on those girls they'd be pissed at you for it!"

"Oh, I'm not takin' it easy on _anyone_," John assured her, shutting the fridge to open the freezer. "They wanna stick me with a couple of skirts? Fine. But nobody better come at me for treating them the same as I would the guys. If they do, they'll just have to get those chicks _off_ my team."

"So much for Mr. Nice Guy," Sam muttered and John turned on her, slamming the freezer door shut.

"That's _exactly_ what I'm talkin' about!" he snarled, pointing at her. "You women wanna be treated equally, but the minute we come down on you like we would any other guy, you get upset and emotional like we're pickin' on you! What the hell do you females want?!"

"We don't want you to be _jerks_!" Sam shot back, and turned back down the hall to march off this time, as much as she could on her crutches.

John sighed when he heard her bedroom door slam and leaned back on the counter next to the sink. He hated when they fought, but she didn't understand what having two women on his team meant. Like he'd said, being in a cramped barracks that consisted of six men and two women could only end badly if he got any horn-dogs like Portman on his team. When his CO had given him the list of marines that would be under him, he had only recognized one name, but the others he'd never heard about, let alone _met_ face to face.

Dax Harland  
Rex Taylor  
Lucas Thomas  
Raphael Ortiz  
Trenton Ramsey  
Lenore Jones

Those six were new names to him, but when he read the last name, he'd instantly felt panic and uncertainty.

Penny Hunter

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**A/N:** and there it is. i wanted to focus a little on the brother sister dynamic. i love writing that dynamic. anyway, reviews?


	2. Handle IDs Assigned

**A/N:** sorry this one's taking long. new chappie! enjoy!

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_**Chapter 2: Handle IDs Assigned**_

"Sarge better get here soon," a man with bleach blonde hair that fell in front of his black eyes muttered as he leaned back in the bunk of the barracks he shared with his six other team mates. He shot up to sit on the edge of the mattress as he grinned, "I'm itchin' for some action."

"We go through training first, Dax," a man from inside the bathroom called, his dark brown eyes on the mirror as he stood at the sink, running a straight razor over his lathered scalp, half of his head already shaved. "I doubt they'll throw us in the thick of it before we have some sort of special training."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," another man replied, a football in his hand, his water blue eyes gazing at something in front of him as he blew a loose strand of dreaded wheat blonde hair from his face and stood in the isle of beds that lined the walls. "I heard we're the lead RRTS team now. Our Sarge was from the former one. They say he's real bad ass."

He tossed the football down the isle and it was caught by a man with black hair and grey eyes who spoke up with a British accent as he said, "Wasn't he the only one to get out of Olduvai alive?"

"He got his sister out, too," a woman with shoulder length, auburn hair and light amber eyes spoke up as she laid back on another bed across from the man with bleach blonde hair reading a book. "She was the only scientist they actually got out of there. Penny met her." She craned her neck to look behind her left shoulder where a woman with red hair pulled into two buns above either side of the nape of her neck sat disassembling, cleaning and reassembling her weapons. "Am I right, Penny? You met the Sarge too, didn't you?"

There was a loud click as the red head jammed something into place on one of her hand guns and focused her brown eyes down the barrel to make sure it was clean and as she lowered it again she mumbled, "Yeah, I met 'em both."

"What's the Sarge like?" a silver haired young man asked, leaning in the threshold of the small room she was in, his dark amber eyes on her as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Is he really a bad ass?"

"More like just an ass," the red head snapped, cocking the gun and grabbing a cloth to rub something from it.

"What? He sleep with you and never call you back?" the bleach blonde smirked and the red head slammed the gun down on the table, making everyone jump and shoot their gazes at her as she stood from the chair and marched toward the bed next to the other girl's and stood at attention at the foot of it.

"What's with her?" the bald man frowned, stepping from the bathroom as he rubbed his newly shaved head dry with a towel.

As if on cue the team heard boot steps slowly marching down the metal stairs at the other end of the room and they all scrambled to stand at the foot of their bunks at attention as the red head did as they realized who was coming down the stairs. John Grimm stopped at the bottom of the stairs, files in one arm and he eyed the members of _his_ team before looking at the young man with wheat dreads for hair to his left, directly opposite the red head.

"Rex Taylor," he nodded and the man nodded as John stepped toward in front of him, scanning his file. "Your Handle ID is T-Rex."

"Figures," Rex muttered to himself, sending John's gaze at him and he straightened in attention a bit more.

"What was that?" John asked, having heard the man.

"Nothing, Sir," Rex replied and John nodded, moving on to the man to Rex's left, the black haired man with the British accent.

"Trenton Ramsey," he guessed as he stopped in front of him, shifting to look at another file. "You Handle ID is Trencher."

"Thank you, Sir," Trenton nodded and John lifted a brow at him.

"Don't thank _me_, thank my superiors," he retorted and Trenton gave a small smirk of amusement as he moved on to the man to Trenton's left. The bald man with broad shoulders. "Lucas Thomas."

"Sir," Lucas nodded as John looked at his file.

"Your Handle ID is Bouncer," John replied, not looking at him as he stepped to the bleach blonde next to him.

"Oh, yeah 'cause he looks like one, doesn't he?" he grinned, leaning over to smack Lucas on the arm but he straightened up, his grin disappearing as John stepped in front of him, pulling out _his_ file and lifting a brow at him. He chuckled nervously before standing at attention and introducing himself, "Dax Harland, Sir."

"Yeah," John nodded, sizing up the youngest of the team before saying, "You r Handle ID is Dax."

"You mean I don't get a cool nickname like the others?" Dax frowned, slumping in disappointment as John started turning toward the other side of the isle of beds. "Why not?"

"Ask my superiors," John replied calmly, pulling out another file. Dax huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a small pout. "Be glad we didn't name you something stupid." He stopped in front of the silver haired Hispanic man and frowned at him for a moment before asking, "Raphael Ortiz?"

"Yes, Sir," Raphael nodded.

"How old are you?" John frowned.

"Twenty five," Raphael replied. "The hair always throws people off. It's been that way since I was a kid."

John nodded and glanced at the file before giving a scoff and saying, "No surprise here. Your Handle ID is Quicksilver."

"Nice," he grumbled and nodded at Rex in agreement at their displeasure as John stepped toward the girl to Raphael's left, looking at her file.

"Lenore Jones," he said and the girl with auburn hair gave a quick nod as he stepped fully in front of her. "Your Handle ID is Raven."

She gave a small frown before it clicked and muttered, "The Raven…Edgar Allan Poe…Lenore. Actually pretty clever."

John gave another scoff but didn't look up from the files as he pulled out the last one and stepped, hesitantly toward the red head to Lenore's left. He said nothing as he stepped directly in front of her and still stared at her file. The rest of the team watched as silence reigned over the entire room for a good minute or so. The red head's jaw was set as she only stared at John, unmoving and not saying a word.

"Penny Hunter," he finally said, breaking the silence, and the way he said her name sounded as though he knew _exactly_ who he was talking to. He finally looked up at her and straightened himself out as he looked her in the eye and reported, "Your Handle ID is Huntress."

She scoffed with an amused smirk, shaking her head hopelessly as she smirked, "_Real_ clever."

"Do you have a problem, Hunter?" John wondered in an irritated tone as the rest of the team glanced at each other confused wonder. What was going on? Penny turned her gaze back to John, a cat-like predatory gaze and he only stared back at her.

"Not at all…_Sir_," she replied, the last word dripping with sarcasm and bitterness, but he didn't say anything more as he turned back to the stairs and stood at the end of the isle to look at his team.

"Welcome to the RRTS, ladies and gentlemen" he announced. "The Rapid Response Tactical Squad. Get ready to get down and dirty with the best shit this world has to offer. They call _us_ when everyone else is too scared to even _try_ to solve the problem. They call us because we're faster, colder and _meaner_ than anyone else. If you're afraid to get your hands dirty or…" He gazed at the girls to his right. "…break a nail…" Once he'd gotten a dirty look from Penny and an offended one from Lenore he turned his gaze away to continue, "…then you shouldn't be here.

"There will be no training. You don't need it. You've been chosen because you're already the best of the bunch you were in. You report to me and follow my orders. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes Sir," they replied in unison except for Penny, who glared at him with a delicate brow raised, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her jaw, a subtle smirk on her lips.

"Call me Reaper," he nodded and glanced at her, but said nothing as he started up the stairs. "Dismissed."

The team watched him head up the stairs before they heard the slam of a door and all eyes shot to Penny but she didn't look back at any of them as she turned back to the room off to the side to continue cleaning her weapons. The team members all glanced around at each other still wondering what the hell that had been, but afraid to ask.

"So," Lenore chirped, stepping back to the side of her bed to flop onto the mattress and open up her book, "Now we all have wonderful little nicknames to call each other."

"Except _me_," Dax muttered with a disappointed pout as he leaned on the railing above the foot of his bunk, crossing his arms over his chest. "This isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair, kid," Lucas replied, stepping toward him on his way back toward the bathroom and slapping his shoulder before passing him completely. "Get used to it now."

"At least you didn't get a completely obvious and very unclever ID," Rex muttered, picking up the football from his bed where Trenton had tossed it and getting ready for another round of catch as Trenton stepped into position.

"Maldito pelo plateado," (Damn silver hair) Raphael grumbled, turning to flop onto his bed and became very expressive with his hands as he continued, "Me deben afeitarse si fuera poco! (I should shave it all off!)

"Don't be so bitter," Trenton advised as he caught Rex's throw of the football and tossed it back, saying, "It could be worse."

"Yeah, we could die tomorrow," Lucas called, stepping from the bathroom with his things and heading toward his locker at the end of the row of bunks to the right.

"Such positive people we ended up with, huh Penny?" Lenore called, playfully. She looked back into the small room where the red head still sat when she didn't respond. Lenore sighed and shut her book to stand from the bed and stepped into the threshold of the room, leaning against the door frame as she asked, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No," Penny replied sharply, still not looking at the other girl as she worked on reassembling another weapon she'd taken apart. "I wanna clean my guns."

"Ok," Lenore sighed with a shrug as she pushed off the frame. "If you change your mind, I'm not goin' anywhere."

"I won't," Penny argued, snapping a piece of the gun she was working on back into place.

Lenore only nodded and stepped back toward her bed, leaving Penny to her work. She listened to the others chatter and talk about their lives and joke around with each other, but didn't engage herself into any conversations. She didn't speak until spoken to, and even _then_ she only gave short, to-the-point answers. Once she was finished with her guns and finally stepped out of the room, everyone was winding down to get to bed, and she put her guns away before flopping onto the mattress with a relaxed sigh through the nose.

"Hunter."

She groaned and sat up to look to the stairs where John had called her from, all eyes on her now.

"Follow me," he nodded up the stairs before turning and heading up himself.

Penny gave an audible growl as she stood and almost stomped up the stairs, all eyes still on her in shock and awe. She marched into the small room he'd walked into and the door was shut behind her when she walked in fully, standing in front of a desk that was opposite the door. She looked over her shoulder at John as he stepped away from the door and toward the desk to lean back on it, facing the red head.

"Are we gonna have a problem, Penny?" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before rubbing his eyes, tiredly and looking back at her.

She stood at attention in front of him, not moving and not answering.

John gave another sigh as he leaned his hands back on the desk, saying, "I know you're bitter, but you don't have to show it in front of the team."

Penny looked at him with a raised brow, but still said nothing.

"You really want them asking you questions?" he wondered.

"It wouldn't make _me_ look bad, John," she finally replied. "It'd make _you_ look like an ass if I told them why I hate you."

"I'm not worried about how I look," he shot back, hearing the anger in her tone. "Hell, they don't even have to respect me because they still have to follow my orders. I'm worried about having that one rebel on my team that makes my life a living hell. Are _you_ gonna be that one?"

"Maybe," Penny snapped. "If it gets me off your team, then _hell_ _yes_."

"Don't get cute, Penny," John ground out, standing to fully to look her in the eye. "I know how hard you've been trying to get here, and you're not about to throw it away because you're upset about a one night stand."

"That wasn't _just_ a one night stand, John, and _you_ know it," Penny growled. "I _will_ leave. No matter how hard I worked, I _will_ leave. You know that."

John stared into her eyes, gritting his teeth. She meant it, and he knew it.

"I'll see what I can do," he said, stepping back from her to lean on the desk again. "But you'll have to stay here for a while paper work is being shuffled around. Think you can handle it?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Penny snapped, indignantly.

"It _means_, can you handle taking orders and working with me on missions until you're outta here?" John retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because if you're gonna be trouble I think I can arrange for you to stay in the _barracks_ while the rest of us go on missions."

"Oh, please don't take the rest of the kids on a field trip without _me_," Penny mocked then asked, "What am I? Eight?"

"Penny, do you see where you're standing?" John asked, pointing at her feet, and she frowned, looking down before looking back at him but not moving. "That's my last nerve you're standing on, right there. By all means, stomp on it so I can throw you out of here and wash my hands of you."

"Don't be dramatic, John," she retorted and he stood straight to step directly in front of her. Her confident air faded when her body reacted to his being so close, memories flooding her mind.

"I'd say the same to you Penny, but it's too late," he murmured and she swallowed as his green-hazel gaze bored into hers. "Behave yourself, please?"

Her eyes scanned over his face before she gave a defeated nod and felt her heart skip when he gave a small smirk.

"Thank you," he nodded slightly and turned to walk behind the desk and scan through the papers on its surface. "You can go now."

Penny didn't move or say anything for a moment and he frowned in wonder as he looked back at her, but she was staring at the floor in thought.

"Penny?"

"Do you wanna know _why_ I'm so angry?" she suddenly blurted as she looked up at him.

He raised a brow at her in wonder but stepped out from behind the desk again to lean back on it as he said, "Alright. I'm listening."

She opened her mouth in shock for a moment, not expecting him to respond that way, but collected herself and said, "It's not the fact that you didn't call me like you said you would. I knew you had your sister to take care of and everything else that had happened. It's because I bumped into you a week later and you didn't apologize. You acted like you didn't even _know_ me, John! Sam was nice enough to at least _talk_ to me like a human being, but _you_---!"

"Sam didn't know," John cut in, making her stare at him with wide eyes. "And I don't _want_ her to know. So if you're still talking to her, don't mention it."

"Why the hell not?!" Penny snapped.

"Because I said so, dammit!" John snapped back, standing to get in her face. "There are things you don't know about that you could never understand, alright?! Just don't tell her!"

Penny glared at him, gritting her teeth in more anger than she could express and she didn't say anything as he gave a sigh and looked away from her for a moment before looking back at her.

"Is that what you want, Penny?" he wondered, honestly and she gave a frown as her temper started dialing down again. "Do you want an apology? A _sincere_ apology?"

She stared at him for a moment before giving a hesitant nod.

"Alright," he nodded and stepped in front of her to set his hands on her arms, making her stiffen as they locked gazes. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I won't give any excuses because you already know the reasons. And while I'm at it, I'm sorry about the way I treated you when we bumped into each other."

Penny saw it in his eyes, he was honestly sorry for what had happened and she was being a horrible person after everything he'd gone through.

"Thank you," she nodded and glanced down at her shoes as she mumbled, "And I'm sorry I was being such a bitch."

"Well, what's that saying?" he smirked, lowering his hands and stepping back to lean on the desk again. "'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,' right?"

"Was I scorned?" she wondered in a mumble, more to herself, but he'd heard her.

He decided not to say anything and instead said, "You can go now, Penny. We might be getting orders tomorrow and you all need your rest."

"What do I tell them you talked to me about?" she wondered, referring to the nosy team waiting for her down stairs.

"Tell them I the truth," John shrugged. "I lectured you on your behavior."

She nodded and stepped toward the door and out of the room, leaving John by himself, unmoving from his spot. He gave a sigh and rubbed his eyes again.

"Damn," he sighed. "I forgot how hot she was, and how much I like her." He leaned his hands back on the desk, staring into space thoughtfully before muttering, "This should be fun."

* * *

**A/N:** oh, i'm sure it will be, John me boy. lol! ok, so that's how i think things would be handled. the Handle IDs are assigned by superior superiors. lol. so there we have it, now i ask you this: now that they have their IDs, should i refer to them by their nicknames while writing, or just stick with their names? time to vote! reviews?


	3. Getting Acquainted

**A/N:** i'm SO sorry this took so long. but it's here now, say YAY! enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Getting Acquainted**_

"Hey! You cheated!"

"No, I didn't, kid. Now pipe down, would ya?"

Lucas reached across the table and slapped Dax's shoulder, almost knocking the younger man off his bunk.

"You guys are too loud," Lenore sighed as she combed her hair out in the bathroom.

"Where's my medal?" Trenton called, throwing things around his bunk to look under and around it.

"Here, man," Rex called, catching the Englishman's attention before tossing something silver at him.

Grinning, he caught it mid-air and stood to examine it before putting it on and saying, "Thank you, Rex."

"What's that thing for, anyway?" Raphael wondered, pulling on one of his boots.

"Luck," Trenton grinned, sitting on his bunk. "My father gave it to me before I left home. He said it helped him through his military life, and it should help me."

"Superstitious crap," Dax muttered, slapping his cards down on the table between his and Lucas's bunks. "When are we gonna get a mission already?"

"I wouldn't start _asking_ to go to work, kid," Penny suddenly spoke up, catching everyone's attention as she came out from the back and sat on her bunk with one of her guns as Lenore sauntered out of the bathroom, leaning on the door frame as she pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

"Aren't you tired of just _sitting_?" Dax complained, standing and walking toward her as she only looked at her gun, making sure she'd put it together right and cleaned it properly and he crossed his arms over his chest as he stood next to her bunk, saying, "I am."

"Next you'll be complaining when we get a mission," Penny sighed, shaking her head as she wiped down her gun. "I _hate_ kids that complain about every-damn-thing they can."

"You don't like my complaining, why don't you _do_ something about it?" Dax shot back, lowering his arms, one of his hands grazing his fingertips against his hand gun strapped to his hip, which stayed there at all times.

"Dax," Lucas called warningly, standing slowly as everyone noticed Penny freeze, still not looking at him.

"He-He's just got a hint of Cabin Fever, Penny," Lenore laughed nervously, heading toward Penny and sitting behind her to pat her shoulder as she shot a silencing glare at Dax but he only glared at Penny. "You know how young men are."

"Yeah," Penny trailed off, but quickly cocked her machine gun and aimed it in Dax's face, proving he was too slow as he hadn't even pulled his gun from his holster and was now staring cross-eyed at the barrel of her gun as she still sat, continuing, "They're all talk and no action. Young idiots who only think with their dicks and trigger fingers."

"Whoa, Penny! Cool it, huh?" Rex called, stepping toward her and shoving the gun away from Dax who let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as Rex stood himself between the two. "He's a pain in the ass, but you can't shoot him!"

"Why not?"

All eyes shot to the stairs to see John marching down, and those who were sitting instantly shot to their feet. Penny lowered her gun and Rex frowned at their sergeant as he stopped half way down the stairs.

"If he's a pain in the ass, you might as well shoot him," John continued, leaning on the railing of the stairs as he looked down at his team. _His _team. He still couldn't get over the fact that they would call him Sarge once in a while. The nostalgia dug deep every time he heard it.

"What's wrong, Sir?" Trenton asked, stepping closer to the stairs as Penny resumed wiping down her gun.

"We have a mission," John replied, standing tall and placing his hands behind his back. "I'll brief you on the way."

"Yes!" Dax cheered, punching air above his head and hurrying toward the stairs to put on his gear as the others followed in a slow walk. Lenore glanced at Penny before heading toward the stairs herself, nodding respectfully to John as he started down the rest of the way, stopping at the bottom step as Penny stayed where she was, still cleaning her gun.

"Well?" she asked, still not looking at him as he stopped in front of her. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah," John nodded.

"And?"

"Two weeks."

Penny's honey gold eyes shot wide as she snapped her gaze to him and snapped, "What?"

"That was the best he could do," John shrugged. "Think you can deal with me for that long?"

"It's not whether _I_ can deal with _you_," she retorted, standing and cocking her gun before stepping directly in front of him to look him in the eye. "It's whether _you_ can deal with _me_."

"I think I'll manage," John replied sarcastically. "Apart from this mission, I'm sure those two weeks are mostly gonna be sitting. I can deal with staying in my room and _away_ from you, if that's what you want. I didn't think it would matter since we made nice yesterday."

"Yeah, well, I've been mad at you all this time I don't know how to be _nice_ to you anymore," Penny muttered before trying to walk past but he caught her arm and she snapped her gaze to his. "What now?"

"You probably shouldn't go on this one," he advised, a sense of warped déjà vu flowing over him, only _he_ was the Sarge.

"And why the hell not?" Penny shot back. "And don't tell me it's because I'm a woman, because you let Lenore go with no problems."

"It's not because you're a woman," John replied. "It's because you'll probably end up needing to patch everyone up when we get back and I can't have our only certified doctor get shot and killed."

"In case you haven't noticed, I've kept myself from being shot _this_ long, I think I can handle another mission," Penny retorted, pulling her arm from his grip and heading up the stairs.

"This won't be like the other missions you've been on, Penny," John called, turning to head after her and she stopped half-way up the stairs. "You _know_ it's bad when they the RRTS."

"Why don't we cut the crap, John?" she snapped, spinning around just as he came up behind her. "You just think I'll be in the way, don't you? You think I won't listen to you because I'm still kinda pissed at you, right?"

"Kinda?" he echoed with a smirk, lifting a brow in amusement at her.

"Just admit it," she ground out.

"There's nothing to admit to," he shrugged, stepping around her and up the stairs enough to stand next to her. "I said you _shouldn't_. I didn't _order_ you to stay, did I?"

"What's so special about me?" she shot back, looking him in the eye. "Lenore has medical training too. Why didn't you stop her?"

"Maybe I will on another mission?" he replied. "I figured since you were pissed at me you'd like to have me gone for a while."

"And what the hell am I supposed to do while _you_ guys are out on a mission?" she shot back. "Sit here and pray that you guys come back alive?"

"You and I _both_ know you wouldn't be praying for _me_ to come back," he smirked and tried heading up the stairs, but Penny's response stopped him.

"_You'd_ probably be the _only_ one I prayed for," she muttered and John froze to look at her as Penny's innocent gaze met his incredulous one. "I'm pissed at you, but I don't really _hate_ you."

"Then why the hell do you wanna be off the team so badly?" John nearly spat.

"Because I don't want whatever we had cloud my judgment _or yours_!" she snapped. "Even if it _was_ just a one night stand, you didn't think it was incredible?"

"We don't have time to discuss this."

"Then why'd you bring it up?"

"I didn't bring _that_ up! _You_ did!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Alright! Enough!" Penny shrunk back with a scowl and looked away from John as he gave a tired sigh before saying, "Look, can we just get through this until you leave without fighting?"

She set her jaw and looked to him before giving a muted nod and he nodded his thanks before she stomped up the stairs and he watched her.

_I guess she's going_, he thought to himself, following her to gear up.

* * *

_Later..._

The team loaded into the helicopter and were about to go for their guns when John stopped them and told them to sit as the chopper started to take off.

"The reason we've been called is because there is a situation in one of the UAC science labs…again," John explained, adding the last word reluctantly. "One of the scientists went berserk and killed two of his colleagues, and the rest he's taken hostage. They've called _us_ because he's got highly volatile explosives set at every entrance or exit way, not to mention he's strapped a bomb to _himself_ as well."

"Talk about berserk," Lenore breathed, wide-eyed as she stared at John who only nodded.

"SWAT wouldn't even touch this with a ninety-nine and a half foot pole," he elaborated as he noticed of few of the men's knees start moved a mile a minute, Dax bouncing in his from excitement which he couldn't under stand in the least. "We have the blueprints to the building…"

John trailed off as a diagram showed up on the screen behind him and he pointed things out on the prints as he continued.

"These two are service entrances," he explained. "They're wired to blow if you so much a touch the door. The main entrance is rigged up with the same remote detonator as the bomb he's got strapped to him, and the kicker is, it's a Dead-Man's Switch."

"A _what_ switch?" Dax frowned, crookedly.

"Dead-Man's Switch," Rex repeated. "It means, he's got his finger on the trigger the whole time. If we shoot him dead, and he let's go of the detonator, it blows."

"How the hell have you not heard of that?" Raphael asked with a frown of his own.

"I ain't a demolition expert like the T-Rex dinosaur over there!" Dax retorted, jerking his head at Rex who glared back at him.

"Better not come at me with that dinosaur shit again, kid," he threatened as john lowered his head into a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, the others sitting back to watch the fight.

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" Dax taunted.

"I just might-!"

"Knock it off!" Penny snapped, and all eyes shot to her as she glared between the two. "Your damn bickering is gonna get us all _killed_, you start that in the middle of the mission."

"Just don't stick me with either one of _these_ two and everything'll be fine," Dax muttered, sitting back as he jabbed his thumb between Penny and Rex before crossing his arms over his chest. "Can't stand either one of them."

"You'll go where you're told, Dax," John shot back. "You're gonna have to learn to suck it up or I'm kicking you off the squad."

"But, Sarge-!"

"Quit calling me that," John cut in, calmly as Dax sat up slightly.

"But, Sir, they-!"

"Shut it, kid," Lucas said, firmly and Dax sneered as he sat back again and John nodded a silent thank you to Lucas. It had been obvious to him from the start that Lucas and Dax had become fast buddies, and he wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of that when necessary.

"Alright," John nodded, turning back to the screen. "There's a cellar beneath the building with trap doors he might have missed to rig. We'll enter through there and what hostages he's left unguarded out of there. He's only one man. He can't be everywhere at once. There are four trap doors, one in each lab…" he looked to Lucas, saying, "Bouncer, take Dax and get into lab three."

Lucas nodded as Dax finally quit sulking and nodded as well as John's gaze shifted to Trenton.

"Trencher, you'll and Quicksilver head for lab two," he instructed, and the men nodded as well. "T-Rex and Raven will go to lab four, Huntress will come with me to lab one."

"I'd rather go with Dax than _you_, sir," Penny muttered, shooting his gaze to her. "With all due respect."

"You'll go where you're told," John replied, making Penny glare at him through narrowed eyes. "Don't make this difficult."

Penny sneered before looking away as Dax smirked at her in triumph that she'd been scolded.

"Alright everyone, get your weapons," John instructed. "We'll be in Death Valley in a few moments."

"Death Valley?" Lenore chirped in disbelief as John passed between the isle of his team members on either side and she stared wide eyes at him. "I heard _nothing_ can survive out there! How is there a science lab in the middle of the desert where _nothing_ survives?"

"It's underground," Trenton replied as he stood to head after John to the back of the chopper. "Like all the rest of your UAC buildings."

"Not all of them," John corrected as he pulled a huge machine gun from the rack and held his hand over the handle.

"_RRTS special ops clearance verified_," a voice sounded from the gun. "_Handle ID: Reaper_."

"Too bad that sultry voice is just a computer," Raphael smirked the others stood to grab their weapons. "I'd _love_ to hear her say my name over, and over, and-"

"Shut up already," Lucas nearly pleaded. "Makin' me think about it is makin' me hard!"

Lenore and Penny stood behind them as they each took their guns down and Lenore frowned to Penny, asking, "Why do boys do that?"

"Hell if _I_ know," Penny shrugged.

Lucas grabbed a FN P90 submachine gun from the highest rack on the wall before sitting back down, placing his hand in the same spot John had placed his on his gun.

"_Handle ID: Bouncer_," the voice replied and Lucas gave a pained groan as Lenore and Penny only rolled their eyes.

Dax grinned as he grabbed two Steyr GB pistols from the rack and spun them on his fingers before shoving them into the holsters as the voice announced his handle. Trenton pulled down a HK PSG-1 sniper rifle and sat quietly as Rex pulled down a Colt M16A2 automatic rifle and sat next to him. Raphael quickly grabbed one of the larger selections with ease, an M32 multiple grenade launcher, that had even Lucas staring at him bug-eyed with wonder as he sat with an exasperating sigh at hearing his handle.

He frowned when he felt he was being watched and looked around at the others before shrugging, "What?"

"Big…honkin'…gun," Dax spoke for the rest of them before turning to John and nearly whining, "How come _I_ didn't get a gun like that?"

"You can hardly handle your Johnson, kid," Lucas chuckled, making Penny and Lenore roll their eyes again as Lenore turned back to the wall of weapons.

Lenore knelt down to press her hand against a rolled up piece of canvas between two shelves and a _male_ voice sounded this time, saying, "_RRTS special ops clearance verified. Handle ID: Raven._"

"Now _that_ is a voice I wouldn't mind hearing before I fall asleep at night," Penny smirked, making Lenore chuckle as the canvas unrolled to reveal twelve, stainless steel throwing knives in their sheaths on a leather belt which she detached from the wall as she stood then strapped it around her waist.

"Mm," Lenore smiled, snuggling the belt to her waist and nodded, saying, "Feels nice to have cold steel 'round my hips."

Penny chuckled as she pulled down an Ithaca Model 37 Stakeout down one of the racks and shuddered in delight when the male voice announced her handle.

"Ooh, baby," she sighed as she stepped toward John and sat to his right, his eyes following her.

She arched a brow at him before setting the gun across her lap and gliding a hand down the barrel of the gun slowly, drawing John's gaze to the movement. He watched her hand and swallowed, making Penny laugh softly, which sent John's attention back to her face as she smirked, seductively.

"Bring back memories?" she murmured as she saw his gorgeous, green-hazel eyes dilate when they met hers and making her smirk a little wider when he cleared his throat and straightened to sit forward.

"I don't know what you mean," he lied, and Penny leaned close enough to almost place her chin on his shoulder, her lips close to his ear.

"I _mean_, does my hand _slowly _running down the barrel of this gun bring back memories of our hot, steamy, one night stand?"

"Stop it," John ground out, trying to nonchalantly cross his left leg over his right but she caught it as she pulled away and glanced around at the chatting team before slipping her left hand onto his right thigh, making him straighten a little and glanced around as well before turning a burning gaze to her mischievous one again and gritted his teeth as he pleaded, "Penny, stop."

"Why, when you seem to like it so much?" she whispered, noticing John's breathing become a little heavier as she began rubbing his thigh.

"I thought you hated me?" he ground out, turning his gaze to watching the team, making sure none of them caught what she was doing.

"I'm _mad_ at you," she corrected, her hand still on his thigh. "I never said I hated you, did I?"

"Actually, you _did_," John recalled, looking at her again.

Penny frowned and thought for a moment before replied, "Oh, yeah. Guess I did." She looked back at him and shrugged. "Well, I don't hate you anymore now that you apologized, but I'm still kinda mad at you."

"Then what's with the PDA?" John couldn't help but wonder and Penny gave a devious smirk, digging her nails gently into his thigh and making him jump only slightly before looking around again then looking back to her. "Penny-"

"Technically, this isn't PDA," she murmured, releasing her hand a bit. "We're not in public, and the guys aren't watching."

"But still-"

"Fine," Penny groaned in what sounded like disappointment as she pulled away and leaned over to pull her D2 Extreme knife from its sheath in her boot to look it over, making John frown.

"Where'd you get _that_?" he wondered, gesturing to her knife and she smiled as she waved it in front of his face.

"It was a gift from an old boyfriend," she explained, before pulling it back and gently rubbing the pad of her thumb against the sharp edge of the blade. "Little did he know I'd end up threatening _him_ with it."

"For what?" John asked, hesitantly.

"He wouldn't leave me the hell alone after I broke up with him," Penny shrugged, placing it back into her boot and sitting up. "I'm kinda glad I didn't have to use it on him."

"I'm sure he is, too," John muttered, and for the first time in a while, he heard Penny give a small giggle.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," she smiled, nudging him gently as he looked at her with wide eyes and she met his gaze. "Sense of humor."

"I've been told I don't have one," he smirked slightly back at her and her smile became warn before she glanced at the team who were still chatting and not paying any attention to them.

"Well, you make _me_ laugh once in a while," she murmured before quickly leaning in and pressing her lips to his tenderly then pulling away a second later. John stared at her with wide eyes as she only continued staring at him with a warm smile. "I still like you, John. I don't regret that one night stand."

"It wasn't a one night stand," he whispered, making her eyes widen slightly as her smile slowly fell. "It wasn't, and I know it. It was…" He trailed off for a moment as he placed a hand over hers as it sat between them, making her frown in wonder as she looked down at their hands then back up at him. "It was great, Pen. One of the best things that happened to me, since…"

"Since Olduvai," Penny nodded in understanding.

"I just didn't think…you'd want more after that," he murmured, looking down at their hands as he played with her fingers.

She gave a subtle frown before saying, "What do you mean?"

"You know," John shrugged slightly before finally looking back at her and explaining, "I didn't think you'd want a relationship so-"

"Why would you think that?" she breathed, shifting to face him a little better and he glanced at the team to make sure they still weren't looking before shifting a little toward her as well. "After being with you…I would have stuck around. It meant something to me. _You_ mean a lot to me."

Their gazes locked and she smiled warmly again before glancing at the team, then lifting a hand to gently stroke his cheek before quickly pulling her hand down. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it as the pilot called back to say they had arrived. John and Penny pulled away as if burned and when the chopper landed, John shot to his feet.

"Alright team, let's go," he called, letting the rest of his team pass him and get out.

Penny was about to pass him but he gripped her arm, pulling her back and making her frown in wonder at him, but instead of answering her unasked question, he pulled her close and planted his lips to hers, making her squeak in surprise. Instead of pulling away, Penny melted into the kiss for a moment before he pulled away and gazed into her eyes.

"Something to get us through this," he explained and she couldn't help but smile before nodding and heading out of the chopper, John following with a smirk of his own. Oh, yes. This was going to be fun.

* * *

**A/N:** i took special care to match everyone's character to the appropriate weapon. i hope i did ok. reviews?


	4. Mad Scientist

**A/N: **new chappie! yay! the mission! enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Mad Scientist**_

"Your team's been briefed fully?" John's superior officer asked as they led his team through the dark desert toward a lone elevator shaft.

John only nodded as the ominous sense of déjà vu came over him again at the sight of the elevator. That'd been happening a lot lately, and he knew it would never pass with time, it would only get worse.

"Nothing's changed since we called you in," he reported. "He's still in there blabbing on about not being paid enough for what he does."

"Maybe we should join him," John smirked making his superior chuckle. "Was there a sweep done for potential gases?"

"Nothing in the air is gonna make you crazy," the officer assured him as they stopped at the elevator. "He hasn't rigged the elevator to blow yet."

"Yet?" John echoed.

"He's threatened to," the officer replied.

"Oh, great," John muttered before looking to his team and nodding into the elevator as he stepped in, the others following.

"Call for back up if you need it," the officer urged, standing outside the door as they all turned to look at him. "Good luck, Sergeant."

John only nodded mutely as the doors shut and the team was transported under ground, sweat all over their faces. It was night, but it was still hot in Death Valley, especially with all their gear on. However, none of them dared to complain. Not even Dax. He refused to look weak.

"Everyone remember their assignments?" John reminded, and they all nodded as the elevator took them to the basement of the facility. "This is _not_ an exercise. You can, and _will_ get killed if you make a mistake." He turned to look at each member of his team and say, "So don't make a mistake."

The elevator stopped and John silently signaled that they split up against the walls. Half went to one side, the other half to the other as they lifted their standard machine guns up, ready to fire when the doors opened. The basement was dark, and only a few lights flickered on the ceiling, the dripping of water echoing through the cement hall.

"Bouncer, Dax," John called before jerking his head toward the hall and the two men emerged, side by side, crossing each other with their weapons raised as they advanced toward the trap door beneath the third laboratory, deeper into the cellar.

"All clear, Sir," Bouncer called, his voice echoing only slightly.

At that John nodded to Trenton and Raphael who took the same formation as the two before them to head toward lab two. Rex and Lenore didn't have to be told at all before they took the same formation and padded silently toward lab four. Once the team was enveloped in darkness he nodded to Penny and she nodded in understanding as they lifted their guns a little higher than before and advanced inside.

"Everyone in position?" John spoke into the microphone on his shoulder in a near whisper.

"_Affirmative, Sir_," Trenton's voice sounded in his earpiece in the same tone.

"_Set, Reaper_," Rex replied next.

"_Ready_," Bouncer simply said.

"Alright everyone, be careful when you open the doors," John ordered through the talkie. "Report when you've cleared your labs."

They all gave affirmative responses as John and Penny stopped at a ladder against a wall leading to a trap door that was traced by light all the way around.

"Well," Penny sighed, drawing John's attention from looking at the door as she looked away from it was well and smirked, "Ladies first, right?"

Without another word Penny wrapped the strap of her gun around her shoulder and started up the ladder.

"Penny! Wait!" John hissed, but she only continued up, making him give a defeated sigh before hanging his gun over his shoulder and heading after her.

Once she reached the top, Penny held herself close to the ladder so she wouldn't fall with one hand and used the other to slowly start lifting the trap door she was directly underneath. She glanced around at the crack she made only to find a wire connected to the floor and leading to the top of the door. Cursing, she gently lowered the door back down and down at John.

"We've got a bomb, Reaper," she whispered.

"Move over and let through so I can disarm it," he ordered in the same hushed tone, starting to advance upward a little more.

"And let _you_ have all the fun?" Penny retorted, leaning forward to pull her knife from her boot and smirk, "Hell no."

"Penny, this isn't the time to dick around!" John hissed as she looked toward the door again and advanced up a rung on the ladder.

She ignored him as she placed the blade, dull side facing her, between her teeth to use both hands to work. She lifted the door slowly until the wire was pulled into a straight line from top to bottom of the crack. She slowly stood tall enough on the ladder to rest the door on the top of her head, once again freeing both of her hands to work. Pulling the knife from her teeth with one hand, she gripped the wire between her fingers and brought the knife to it. With one diagonal stroke down the wire was sliced cleanly in half. She smirked in triumph and spun her knife in her fingers before slipping it into her boot again, looking down at John and giving him a wink.

"We're not blowed up, baby," she whispered, making him roll his eyes as she turned back to the door and glanced around the lab it led into.

Spying a few scientist hostages she lifted a finger to her lips to ask them for silence and they nodded, their gags preventing them from saying anything and their bonds preventing them from standing or moving. Penny slowly lifted the door to climb in and lifted it enough to let John in as he followed her.

"Get the bomb off of there," John ordered her and she nodded as he stepped toward the bound hostages.

"You'll be alright," he murmured to the woman he knelt in front of to pull down her gag as she stared at him with wide eyes, trembling in fear. "We're gonna get you outta here. You have to stay quiet though, ok?"

The scientists all nodded as he began untying them. Penny was knelt down at the door, examining it and grumbling under her breath that she was a medical specialist, not a damn demolition expert. However, she shoved her gun behind her again and pulled her knife to place it under the bomb set up and start sawing at the wires that held it to the door. Once she'd carefully cut the last wire she slowly picked it up and stood to set it on one of the tables in the room before hurrying back to the door and easily opening it fully.

"Alright, it's all clear, Reaper," she whispered and he nodded as he untied the last hostage.

"Cover the door," he ordered Penny and she nodded as she went to the laboratory door and opened it just enough to peek outside into the hall to make sure no one was coming as John spoke into his shoulder. "Dax, come in."

"_Dax here, Sir_," came a hushed reply into his earpiece.

"Is lab three secure?"

"_It is now, Sir_."

"I need you and Bouncer to escort the hostages to the elevator before we go on, understood?"

"_Yes, Sir_."

"_Sir_," Trenton's accent sounded in his ear. "_Our hostages are secure_."

"Send them down to the cellar," John ordered as he headed toward the open trap door. "Dax and Bouncer'll take 'em from there."

"_Yes, Sir_," Trenton replied as John knelt next to the door and waved the hostages over.

They all padded toward him and he made sure he had everyone's attention before he said, "Alright, head down this ladder and head toward the elevator. Two of my men will take you the rest of the way."

"Thank you," one woman breathed as she started down the ladder. "I could kiss you!"

"Save it for later, ma'am," John replied, seriously as she hurried down the ladder, followed by the others until everyone was down the ladder and John shut the door before silently hurrying toward Penny's position.

"Still waiting on Lenore and Rex," Penny whispered and he nodded. A moment of silence passed as Penny still gazed through the crack in the door before she frowned in thought and whispered, "It's odd."

"What is?" John frowned in wonder as he stood across from her, both of them with their guns in hand.

"I haven't heard anything since we got into the room, have you?" the red head asked, looking at him and John thought for a moment before he shook his head. "Didn't the Staff Sergeant say he'd been ranting and raving the whole time?"

"Yeah," John nodded, seeing where she was going with this.

"Well, it's _dead_ quiet out there," Penny observed.

"Move away," John ordered as he stepped toward her, and she did as she was told so he could stand in her place. He opened the door a little more and noticed it was pitch black. No lights were on and he couldn't see any lights coming from anywhere else. "Oh, shit."

"What?" Penny whispered, but instead of answering her he shoved her to the other side of the door where he'd been standing and shoved himself against the wall on his side, slamming the door shut.

A volley of bullets pierced through the wood, the sound of the machine gun behind it drowning out any other sounds as Penny shoved herself against the wall, mirroring John's stance. The bullet's stopped and the two marines watched in horror as the door swayed slightly before slowly falling inward and slamming to the floor between them.

"You'll never take me alive!" a man's voice bellowed before more gunshots were heard, but no bullets went flying through the open doorway. They guessed he was shooting at the ceiling.

"Dude, how many movies has this guy been watching?" Penny muttered at John when the bullets stopped. "Does he think he's bad ass?"

"He's got a gun, Penny," John snarled as her.

Penny gave him a bored stare and held up her gun for him to see as she snapped, "So do _we_!"

"_Wouldn't even think about that, Penny_," Lenore suddenly spoke up in her earpiece, making John frown as well when he heard her over his earpiece. "_He's got __my__ gun_."

"What the hell?" John snarled before another volley of shots was fired into the room. He and Penny ducked away from the door on their sides and when the shots stopped, they set their backs against the wall again as John ground out, "I _knew_ it! I _knew_ having women on my team was a _bad_ idea!"

"Oh, don't start with your sexism right now, _Sir_!" Penny shot out.

"_Rex is tryin' to get behind him_," Lenore reported. "_I'm...in the thick of this_."

"What?" Penny murmured in utter confusion and chanced to peek out into the hallway. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and she made out a man in a lab coat with another figure in fatigues, his hand on her shoulder. "Oh, great."

"_Another_ hostage," John muttered as Penny pulled back and leaned against the wall again.

"Hold it!"

Penny and John peeked into the hall and on either side of the man holding Lenore hostage, they saw Raphael and Trenton with their guns aimed at him several feet away on either side of him. The scientists whipped his head between the two men and swung the gun either away, not knowing where to aim. The marines on the other side of the door whirled into the doorway, guns aimed at him and the man whipped the gun at them.

"Don't even _think_ about it," Rex's voice suddenly sounded behind the man as he placed the barrel of his gun against the back of the man's head. "You've got _five_ guns trained on you. How long do you think you'll live on odds of five to one?"

"_Six_, to one, darling," Lenore added, glancing at him over her shoulder and slipping one hand to her hip where her knives were sheathed.

Rex caught her gaze and gave a slight nod as she curled her fingers around one of the knife handles and she gave a nod that she was ready.

"Alright," the man suddenly sighed, lowering the gun and letting go of Lenore's shoulder as they all frowned at him.

Rex tapped the butt of the gun so that it fell from the man's hand and the other's closed in on him, Trenton instantly grabbing the man's collar and shoving him against the wall next to the door of laboratory one and cuffed him with plastic pull-ties.

John gazed around the hall, deep in thought before he murmured, "Too easy."

"Uh, isn't something missing?" Raphael frowned in wonder, catching their attention. "Like a _bomb_ with a Dead Man's Switch strapped to his body?"

"Not a thing on him, Sir," Trenton reported, pulling the lab coat aside to show that there was, in fact, _no_ bomb strapped to his torso at all.

"Where're Dax and Lucas?" Penny suddenly asked, looking around the hall and the team glanced around at each other for a moment.

A loud shout down the hall made them lift their guns in the direction it came from before they heard footsteps and saw two silhouettes running toward them. They all made out the shapes of Lucas and Dax running at top speed down the hall and frowned, lowering their guns.

"What the hell are you shouting for?" Rex snapped.

"This whole place is gonna blow sky high!" Lucas boomed, still running.

"He rigged the bomb he had strapped to himself to go off on a timer!" Dax explained as they reached them. "We gotta get our asses in gear!"

An explosion was suddenly heard, then another, and another, and soon they saw the doors of the rooms the mad scientist had set bombs in blew out to reveal explosive flames within.

"Aw, shit," John muttered, looking at the bomb left on the floor in the lab, then bellowed, "Everybody, follow me!"

They all turned and headed down the hall, away from the explosions and ran just in time for the bomb Penny had dismantled to go off, how they didn't know and didn't care. John led them down the hall, explosions following after them. The scientist laughed as he stumbled a few times, and John knew he _had_ to have taken something to them all into _this_ situation and laughing about it. They rounded a corner and Lucas kicked in a door as he caught up with John and they threw themselves inside, slamming the door shut.

"This isn't gonna keep us from being blown up!" Lenore spat, but instead of answering her, John kicked at the trap door in the middle of the room and it fell in.

"Everybody out," John ordered and the team all jumped down into the hole just as the door blew open and flames burst into the room.

Underground they all had to run from the trap door as flames spat out of _it_ as well, but didn't spread below. The team panted from their activities and glanced at each other, all covered in soot, dirt and sweat.

"No what?" Dax wondered between breaths. "The elevator's probably done for. We won't be getting back up that way."

"No, we won't," John sighed as he stood tall. "But I know a way out of here."

* * *

**A/N:** oh, this'll be fun. lol! reviews?


	5. Chimera

**A/N:** new chappie! yay!

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Chimera**_

"I wasn't paid enough."

"Shut up."

"You don't know what it was like there! I'm not making any of this shit up!"

"Shut your mouth before I blow it off."

"You don't believe me-?"

Dax yanked one of his pistols from its holster and shoved the Mad Scientist he'd been walking through the lower tunnels up against the wall to press the gun to his temple, drawing everyone else's attention when they heard the slam of the man hitting the wall.

"Shut up, I said!" Dax snarled in the man's face and Lucas hurried toward them to pull him away. "Shut the hell up!"

"Dax! Get off him!" Lucas pleaded, trying to pull him away, but the other man's hand was clamped onto the scientist's arm.

Rex and Trenton ran toward the three to help Lucas, Rex grabbing onto Dax and Trenton grabbing a hold of the younger man's gun, pulling it away from him. Lucas and Rex were finally able to pull him from the scientist who slid to the ground, panting and shuddering as Dax tried struggling out of Lucas' and Rex's grip, Trenton kneeling next to the scientist to make sure he wasn't hurt. Dax finally shrugged the two men off of him and straightened himself out as he glared at the scientist, huffing and puffing in rage.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" John asked Dax who whirled on him as Trenton helped the scientist to his feet.

"He won't shut up!" Dax snarled as Trenton came up next to him alone and handed him his gun. The young man looked to the pistol and snatched it from the Englishman to holster it and march forward, ahead of Lenore, Penny and John. "Somebody else can walk him. I'm sick of hearing his shit."

"You'll do what _I_ tell you to do," John snapped, making Dax stop dead in his tracks and turn his glare to his superior. "You don't like what he has to say, block it out. Day dream, play a stupid song in your head, I don't care. _You're_ walking him and that's an order."

Penny and Lenore glanced between the two men warily as Dax only glare at John who simply glared back. Without another word, Dax marched back toward the scientist to shove Trenton away from him.

"If l kill him, it's _your_ fault, _Sarge_," he spat, and John went to reply but was interrupted before he could start.

"Keep your mouth shut kid, or _you'll_ be the one that's killed," Penny snapped, stepping closer as she spoke to him until she came within inches of his face. "We're _all_ on edge, but that doesn't mean you can take it out on the rest of us. We don't like bein' here any more than _you_ do, but we all have to suck it up. So plug your ears and march, soldier!"

Dax glared at her for a moment before leaning over to look at John and ask, "Seriously?"

"You heard her," John shrugged, turning to head down the tunnel. "Suck it up."

Dax and Penny glared at each other for another moment before she turned to follow John and Dax trailed behind the rest of the group as with the scientist as they all followed.

"So, what do you think he was gettin' so bent for?" Penny wondered to John as she walked next to him.

"The scientist was telling him what he did here, that's all," John replied and Penny frowned in wonder.

"How do you know that?" she asked. "Dax didn't mention anything the guy said."

"Why else would Dax get that way?" John replied, vaguely. "Trust me, UAC tends to do things _normal_ people would never think of doing."

"Back to C-24 again," Penny sighed. "You're a bit obsessed with that, aren't you? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but not everything should be rated from one to UAC, ya know?"

John was silent as they walked on, and he didn't look at her as he stopped at a fork and he lead them to the left of it, his eyes darting around the tunnel. Penny frowned and stopped, making the other stop as well and he stopped a few steps ahead of her to turn and frown at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Shouldn't we clear the tunnel first?" Penny asked. "It's SOP."

John looked back down the tunnel before turning back to her and lifting his machine gun and nodding to her, ordering, "Alright, Huntress. Follow me then."

Penny frowned at him for a moment, but soon nodded, lifting her own gun and turning to the rest of them to say, "We'll be back."

"We'll cover the rear," Raphael suggested.

"No," John called, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Stay there, all of you."

They all frowned at Penny who turned back to them with a shrug before turning back down the tunnel and cocking her gun. She marched toward John as he waited for her and once she was beside him they headed deeper into the tunnel, both lifting their guns to aim them at the dark. They matched steps for a few yards before John stopped, pointing his gun with the flashlight to his left to light up a small doorway.

He looked to Penny who looked back at him and nodded her toward it, making her frown but she stealthily stepped to one side of it, her gun still armed and John on the other side of it, both leaning on the wall. Penny was the first to whirl into the opening and point her light into the doorway only to frown and lower her weapon. There wasn't even a door. It was just an inlet in the wall made of concrete, big enough for two people to hide in…face to face.

She gasped when she was suddenly shoved into the gap and her gun fell to her side, held onto her by the sling around her shoulder. She stopped herself from hitting the wall with her hands and turned around only to have John shove her back against the wall, his hands against it to pin her to it.

"John-?"

Her question was cut off when he pressed his lips against hers, and she instantly melted against him, wishing they weren't wearing fatigues so she could pull him closer. She settle for gripping the sleeves of his Kevlar vest as his tongue delved into her mouth, making her give a soft moan and he pressed her harder into the wall. They finally pulled away for air and John trailed soft kisses along her jaw line to the soft skin under her ear.

"What brought this on?" she breathed, pulling him closer by his vest as he worshipped her neck.

"You turned me on when you told off Dax like that," he growled into her ear. "I could have taken care of him too, but _damn_, you were hot."

Penny giggled as she lifted her hands to John's head to stroke his ears, neck and hair. He groaned against her neck at feeling her finger tips run to his hairline at the nape of his neck.

"The team is waiting," she whispered into his ear, making him groan again, this time in disappointment. However, she assured him, "We'll finish this off when we get back to barracks, if you'd like."

"Thank God, you're giving me something to live for," he growled before lifting his head and planting his lips to hers again before he nearly yanked himself away to march back down the tunnel.

Penny pulled herself together and hurried after him, her gun in her hands as they met the rest of the team.

"All clear," John announced and nodded them down the tunnel.

They all followed him as he led them, Raphael and Lucas right behind John and Penny, Dax and the scientist behind the two men, Rex and Lenore behind Dax and Trenton bringing up the rear.

"Hey, Rex?" Lenore called, frowning to her left and he frowned back at her as she drifted toward the gap John and Penny had shared their moment in and he followed. "Why would someone design a gap in a tunnel?"

Rex came up next to the young woman as they both looked into the gap and shrugged then smirked, "Maybe it's a _love_ gap?"

"Oh, right," Lenore scoffed, standing tall and rolling her eyes. "How lucky can you get in a gap you can hardly move in?"

She moved to take a step forward but found Rex standing tall and in her way, still smirking. She gasped as she almost bumped into him and her amber eyes locked with his sapphires.

"Wanna find out?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow in wonder and she scoffed with a smirk as she lifted a hand to pat him on the chest.

"Yeah, right," she retorted, walking around him and Rex slumped in disappointment but turned and followed the others that had passed to walk with Trenton.

"My advice," Trenton began, drawing Rex's attention to him in curiosity. "Next time, try something a little more subtle in a more romantic environment."

"Well, I'm not much of a romantic," Rex replied, watching Lenore as she walked ahead of them with a smirk. "Tell you one thing though, that skirt is worth chasing."

"And Miss Hunter?" Trenton smirked, jolting Rex back and making him scoff.

"You kiddin'? She's Reaper's. I ain't touchin' _that_ tail."

"It's obvious to you as well, is it?" Trenton mused, but the conversation was cut short when they heard a loud metal clang from ahead of them.

The team instantly raised their weapons as they stopped dead, Dax shuffling the scientist to the side and standing in front of him to draw his pistols as he leaned on the wall of the tunnel.

"What the hell was that?" Lucas whispered, glancing around the tunnel then recalled to John, "You said this tunnel was clear."

"It was," he replied, none of them looking at each other as they spoke. "I was sure of it."

"Can we get the hell outta here instead of arguing about who _didn't_ clear the damn tunnel?" Dax hissed, pointing his pistols down the dark tunnel.

Another clang sounded, and a soft snarl was heard, making them lift their guns a little higher.

"You've gotta be shittin' me," John groaned. "_More_ mutations?"

"_Not_ mutations," the scientist spoke up, making the team look to him, all except John, Penny and Dax. "_Creations_. Creatures we were brought here to birth and maintain. Chimeras."

"Chimeras?" Lenore frowned in wonder and the man nodded.

"Half man, half animal," he shuddered. "We kept them in the labs, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them got out."

"Alright, shut up, everyone," John hissed, and they all turned their attentions back to the path ahead, their guns aimed in that direction. "Hug the walls."

The team split up. John, Lucas, Trenton and Rex on one side, Penny, Dax, the scientist, Raphael and Lenore on the other. A light from above that had been little illumination for their way swung from its cord, lighting up one side only for a second before it moved on to the other. None of them heard anything else but their own breathing until they caught faint scraping sounds ahead, along with slurps, snarls and growls.

"What the shit are we dealing with?" Lenore breathed as she stood behind the scientist.

"Something beyond your comprehension, my dear," he replied, even though he knew her question had been rhetorical.

The light above swung down their path just in time to reveal something moving toward them. From the split second lighting the team caught sight of creatures that looked like humans crawling on all fours with long black hair, paler than pale skin, black lips and claws, sharp teeth that were constantly bared and glowing yellow eyes.

"Holy shit," Raphael breathed as more appeared and they looked angry as hell.

"Protect the scientist," John ordered in a whisper into his headset. "Do not fire unless they attack, understand?"

He received affirmatives from everyone except Dax and it made him look to the young man cautiously. Dax only looked straight ahead at the chimeras approaching like everyone else. The leader stopped, sniffed the air, and suddenly snarled, licking his chops as if he'd smelled dinner. The team watched as the pack of chimeras began shuffling down the tunnel and surrounding the marines on the right side, mostly around Dax and the scientist. Dax lifted his pistols toward them, ready to shoot, but John's order beat him to it.

"Fire!" he shouted, and a hail of bullets from both sides rained down on the chimeras.

Some were hit, some leapt out of range to the ceiling and some sprouted wings and flew away. Once the live ones were out of range and the wounded ones were killed, the team looked to John.

"This way!" he called, darting down the tunnel and his team followed. "We're almost there!"

"Almost _where_?" Penny called, but he didn't answer.

Dax was nearly dragging the scientist down the hall and the team's pace quickened as they heard roars from behind.

"They're following us!" Dax called.

"Quicksilver!"

"Got it!" Raphael replied to John and he skidded himself to a stop, turning as he pulled his grenade launcher in front of him to lift, aim and fire. After the explosion, yowls and whimpers of pain could be heard from the chimeras as he turned and hurried after his team. It didn't take him long before he reached them…at a dead end.

"Are you bullshitting me?" Dax snapped, looking around to find another path. "You led us to a dead end?"

"Everyone, front and center," John ordered, gesturing to the space from corner to corner and they all hurried to follow orders.

Dax and Lenore pulled a struggling scientist with them, but before they reached their positions, a flying chimera screeched, diving in out of a cloud of steam and grabbing the scientist by the shoulders. Dax turned and aimed a pistol at the thing, letting go of the man but the chimera kicked him into his team and pulled back on the man's shoulders to fly away. A scream signaled Lenore's kidnapping as well. She hadn't let go of the scientist's arm.

"Raven!" Rex shouted, and instantly headed in the direction she'd been taken.

"Rex! Wait!" Trenton called.

"After them!" John ordered, and the team obeyed, running after their comrades.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Rex kept the flying chimera with Lenore and the scientist in sight as he ran after it. The thing turned down a corner and he cursed, quickening his pace. As soon as he turned the corner, he heard a thud and looked to the ground to see the scientist on the ground, but no Lenore. He hurried toward the unmoving man on the ground and checked his pulse, even though it was obvious he was already dead. His neck had snapped in two, making his head nearly rest on his shoulder.

A scream caught his attention ahead again and he shot to his feet to run after Lenore. He heard shuffling and grunting as he rounded another corner and caught sight of Lenore pinned underneath the chimera that had kidnapped her, its wings still revealed as its hands gripped her wrists and it straddled her legs.

Lenore managed to slip one of her knives from her belt and stab the thing in the gut, but it only roared at her and she roared back, unafraid. Rex lifted his automatic rifle and took careful aim.

"Hey! Dipshit!" he shouted, drawing the creature's attention to him and it roared at him before he pulled the trigger.

Black blood was spewed everywhere and the now headless body flopped onto Lenore who screamed in disgust. She shoved the corpse off of her as she scrambled to her feet, a stripe of black blood running from right to left down her face. Rex lowered his gun and hurried toward her as she stood and dusted herself off to grip her arms and pull her to face him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, more concern in his voice than he would've liked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lenore grumbled, using her sleeve to wipe off the blood on her face then snapped, "Damn thing tried to _rape_ me!"

"How do you know _that_?" Rex frowned in wonder, letting his hands fall from her arms.

"I saw it's thing," she replied, casually then lifted her hands to demonstrate, making an 'O' with one and slipping her finger through it as she explained, "It slipped out from under its skin. Kinda like a horse, but not _nearly_ as big."

"I don't know if that's a good or bad thing," Rex mused, and Lenore rolled her eyes before they heard footsteps heading toward them.

The team rounded the corner and glanced around at the scene.

"Everything ok?" John asked.

"Situation handled, Sir," Rex nodded. "The scientist is dead, though."

"No shit, Sherlock. We just passed him back there," Dax snapped.

"You know what, Dax, I'm sick of your bullshit attitude," Rex shot back. "Next time, _you_ can go after the mutated, human-animal thing!"

"Enough," John cut in, firmly and turned to head back. "Let's get back to the dead end. There's a ladder hidden in the wall we can climb up. It leads to the sewer system. We can get back to the surface that way."

"Well, the shit's gonna hit the fan," Lucas joked as the team followed their leader, but Lenore caught Rex by the arm before he could head after them and he stopped to frown down at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked and she only smiled as she pulled him a step closer, lifting herself up on her tiptoes to press a lingering kiss to his cheek.

"Thanks," she murmured before letting him go and following the rest of the team.

He stood there for a moment, taking in what had just happened then grinned as he hurried after the team as well. Catching up with Trenton he whistled a light tune, making the Englishman frown at him.

"What's gotten into _you_, mate?" he asked, and Rex only smirked at his friend, slinging an arm over his shoulders.

"A four letter word, my fine friend," he replied, vaguely. "May the Lord bless _you_ with it some day."

"And what word is that?" Trenton smirked, and Rex looked ahead to watch Lenore walk ahead of them again with a warm smile.

"Love."

* * *

**A/N:** ok, yeah, it was kinda mushy, but i hope the action made up for it. reviews?


	6. Rules and Paranoia

**A/N:** new chappie! enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 6: Rules and Paranoia**_

"_And __that__ is your full report?_"

"Yes, Sir," John nodded on the other side of the headset as he sat at his desk in the room, staring at the computer screen with his report on it as well. "The Chimera killed Professor Harrison and attacked Corporal Jones. We had no choice but to kill it and by the time we got to the professor he was dead."

"_There's nothing we can do about that_," his superior replied. "_He would have been useless to us anyway after this stunt._"

John felt his stomach churn at the sound of his superior's emotionless tone. He knew it was true, but the man could have been a bit more sympathetic. Then again, he wouldn't be his superior if that were the case. It was one of the reasons John knew he wasn't going to be promoted above Sergeant.

"Sir," he tried, pausing to gather more courage before saying, "He spoke of his work he did for the UAC-"

"_It's all untrue, Sergeant_," his superior cut in instantly. "_Everything mentioned in your report that came from his mouth is lies_."

John swallowed the urge to spew and gave an affirmative response as he stared ahead blankly at the screen.

"Is there anything else, Sir?" he wondered, hoping to be done with this.

"_Yes,_" he replied, making John groan inwardly. "_The paperwork for Corporal Hunter's transfer didn't clear. Did you fill it out properly?_"

John's eyes shifted nervously as he adjusted nervously as well. He wasn't nervous about whether or not he _did_, he was nervous about whether or not his Staff Sergeant knew he _didn't_.

"I filled them out as best I could," he replied vaguely. "I've never had to write up transfer papers before…"

"_Looking at them right now, you did a shit job_," the Staff Sergeant replied. "_You'll have to redo them completely._"

"Actually, I think the corporal has made her peace with what was bothering her about this team," John replied, still being vague. "She told me to forget it. I think she was just throwing a tantrum for a tantrum's sake."

"_And how do you know that?_" the Staff Sergeant replied.

_Shit_, John thought to himself before replying, "I met her a week ago. Our…paths crossed a couple times since then, but nothing really-"

"_You know the rule, Sergeant_," his superior warned. "_If I hear of anything going on between the two of you, she'll have to transfer to another team._"

"Yea, Sir, I know," John nodded, feeling his heart skip in panic.

"_I'll hand off your report to my superior_," the Staff Sergeant said. "_In the meantime, sit tight._"

"Yes, Sir," John replied, thinking, _Do we ever do anything else?_

"_Good work, Sergeant_."

"Thank you, Sir."

The click on the other end signaled that the call was over and he pulled the headset from his ear before leaning his elbows on the desk and sighing as he rubbed his face with his hands. The sound of footsteps heading up the stairs leading to his door drew his attention and he stood from the chair to approach the closed door. Opening it he revealed Penny standing in the doorway, poised to knock, but when she saw him she lowered her hand and smiled brightly, taking the liberty to step into the room.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" she reminded him, turning on her heel to face him with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face.

John shut the door, staring at her as she only stood in front of him. He knew he shouldn't have called her there, or done what he had in the tunnel under the lab. He knew the rule. No fraternizing within the ranks. It caused complications when there was a lover's spat in around missions. But looking at her as she stood there with a sweet smile on her face that he hadn't seen since the day they'd met, he couldn't resist himself.

"John?" Penny frowned, stepping toward him and waving a hand in front of his face as he only stared at her. "Earth to John? You there?"

He didn't move as he only watched her and she lifted a brow in amusement at him before stepping directly in front of him to place her hands on his shoulders, stroking her thumbs under the collar of his blue gray button down shirt. She took another step toward him, making him back up slightly, his back bumping the wall behind him, and Penny took that last step to press herself against him, running her hands up his neck to run her fingers through his hair.

"You want _me_ to make the first move, is that it?" she murmured, moving her face closer to his. "Tired of taking charge, _Sir_?"

John growled in arousal and gripped her arms to swing her around and shove her against the wall as she giggled until she hit the wall. His mouth crashed down onto hers, making her moan and he pressed her into the wall, his hands on its surface on either side of her to keep her pinned as her hands slipped up his chest and around his neck. He finally pulled away to breathe, but couldn't keep himself from burying his face into her neck, licking and nipping at her skin and making her giggle.

"I'm breaking the rules, you know," he breathed into the curve of her neck. "We shouldn't be doing this."

"Déjà vu," Penny sang into his ear, slipping her hands to his chest to start to unbutton his shirt. "You said that last time we did this."

"Did I?" John breathed, pulling away to lean his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as she concentrated on undressing him. "I don't even remember."

"Actually, it was something more like, 'We shouldn't be doing this _here_'," she recalled, finishing off the last button and slipping his sleeves off his shoulders as he lifted his head to look at her. "We were in your sister's hospital room. I remember you stopped and dragged me to one of the janitor's closets. Like _that_ was any better."

"Didn't we…?"

"Yup," Penny nodded as he helped pull off his shirt completely.

"And then we…?"

"That too," she nodded, stepping back slightly to unbutton her shirt.

"Then we ended up in a hotel room, right?"

"Yup," Penny chirped with a nod, not looking from her shirt.

John placed his hands on hers, turning her attention to his face as he stared at her for a moment before quickly leaning down and toward her. She frowned but gave a small shout when she was suddenly swept off of her feet and found herself being carried toward another doorway as she threw her arms around John's neck.

"I've always wanted to do this," John smirked to her as he stepped through the doorway, being careful not to hit Penny's head on the frame on the way into the bedroom and she smiled up at him.

"Well, you're doing a very good job, Prince John," she retorted, making him chuckle before he kicked the door shut behind him.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

"This is a bad idea," Lenore whispered as Rex dragged her toward the door of the barracks that led into the hall.

"Don't be so paranoid," Rex whispered back, slowly opening the door, still holding her hand as she glanced around at their sleeping teammates. He peeked out into the hall before slowly inching out of the room, Lenore right behind him as he closed the door as quietly as he'd opened it. "Nobody's gonna notice we were even gone."

"But what if Reaper comes out to check on us?" she wondered as they headed down the hall.

"We're not children," he scoffed. "Besides, you didn't see Penny head up to his room earlier? He's gonna be _way_ too occupied to come and check on us if he wanted to."

"Well, yeah, but-"

She was cut off when he pulled her into the down stairs locker room no one ever used and spun her in front of him to gently push her against the wall, his hands on her upper arms as he smirked at her.

"Don't worry, babe," he murmured, pressing his body against hers as his hands ran up to her hips to slip up her waist, under her loose, un-tucked shirt. Lenore moaned, her eyes closing at the feeling of his fingers on her skin as his lips came a breath away from hers. "Just relax and let me work my magic."

"You talk too damn much," Lenore breathed as he dipped his head to leave feather soft kisses to her neck and her hands came up to slip around his neck.

"Wait till we get to the fun stuff, babe," he nearly growled in arousal. "Then you'll _want_ me to talk."

"Just shut up and kiss me, Rex," Lenore breathed, and he gave a smirk before planting his lips to hers, passionately.

* * *

**A/N:** short, but i didn't wanna linger too long with this one. reviews?


	7. Unshared Secret

**A/N:** new chappie! enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Unshared Secret**_

"So…" Penny hummed, lifting her head from John's bare chest as she lay in the curve of his body in the tangled sheets to look up at him with a sly smile. He gave a frown as he lifted an arm to cradle his head in one hand and look down at her as she smoothed her hand over his chest, tracing his muscles slowly as she continued, "You screwed up on my transfer papers, huh?"

John cleared his throat and shifted his gaze around his darkened room nervously, making Penny giggle.

"I'm not angry, John," she whispered, shifting to lay on top of him a bit more as he finally met her gaze and she smiled at him. "After our make-up make-out in the helicopter I was going to ask you to forget about it anyway."

"Yeah, about that," he sighed, shifting to sit up as Penny leaned up as well with a frown as he leaned back against the wall against his head board. "My CO so graciously reminded me that if we have anything other than a working relationship, _you_ will be transferred out immediately."

"So…we'll keep it on the down low," Penny shrugged with a saucy smile as she started crawling closer toward him. "I don't mind that at all as long as I can be with you."

"Penny," John protested, drawing up all his self control as she pressed her body against his to push her away enough to look her in the eye. "I don't think you get it. I could be court-marshaled for this."

"You're too good a Marine," Penny smirked with a slight shake of her head as she inched toward him again. "After that mission stressing you out, you _still_ had _plenty_ of energy for a nice romp in the sack. Reminds me of our first night. How're you able to do that?"

"Pen, please, focus," John pleaded through a breath as she brushed her lips against his. "This is serious."

"John, I know we can both get into trouble for this," she replied. "_I_ have as much to lose as _you_."

"Yeah, but I don't think you fully _understand_-"

"I _do_, John," she cut in. "But I think it's worth the risk, don't you?"

"I didn't say it _wasn't_," John replied. "Of _course_ it's worth it. I'm just saying that we need to be _really_ careful so this can last." He lifted a hand to her cheek and stroked it gently. "You want it to last, right?"

"Duh," she grinned before throwing herself at him again, and he grunted when she hit his chest and his back hit the wall behind him. "I wanna be with you, John. Whatever this is, I want it. I wanted more after our first time, but-"

"Yeah, I know, I screwed it up," he finished, his arms slipping around her shoulders to pull her closer. "This time I won't. But _you_ have to promise to control yourself."

"_Moi_?" Penny grinned, sitting up to point to herself. "I'm as discreet as the CIA!"

"Sometimes, even the CIA screws the pooch," John smirked, making Penny giggle. "Just don't do a repeat of what you did in the helicopter on the way to Death Valley, alright?"

"Oh, fine," Penny blurted, rolling her eyes before deciding to change the subject. "Uh, you should know something."

"What?" John frowned in wonder as she lifted a hand to trace circles on his chest again.

"Rex and Lenore are hookin' up too," she muttered and John's eyes widened at her before he sighed and bowed his head in exasperation, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Great," he grumbled. "How do you know that?"

"I over heard them on the way back from Death Valley," she replied. "They were talking about hooking up tonight."

"Well, nothing I can do about it _now_," he muttered, lifting his head to look at the digital clock displayed on the wall ahead of him. "By this time they've probably found a nice closet or locker room and sealed the deal."

"Just making you aware of what's goin' on," she smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder with her arms wrapped around his chest as he pulled her closer.

"I _knew_ this was gonna happen with a couple of skirts on my team," he muttered, making Penny frown up at him as he continued, "Everybody wantin' a piece of ass for themselves."

"Including _you_, _Sergeant_," she shot back and he glared down at her.

"This thing with you and me is different," he argued. "We've already slept together."

"And yet, still both breaking the rules," Penny retorted. "What's wrong with _this_ picture, Mr. Double Standard?"

"Alright, you're startin' to piss me off," John snapped, playfully as he shoved her away gently and ordered, "Get outta my bed."

"Aren't _we_ acting like the skirt now?" Penny smirked, not moving from the bed and he glared at her before turning to stand.

"Fine," he chirped, walking around to start picking up his clothes to get dressed. "_I'll_ leave."

"Babe, wait," Penny called when he stepped around the other side of the bed and he frowned at her in wonder as she slipped a hand under the covers. She pulled something out from under the blanket and tossed it at him. He quickly caught the piece of material and frowned at it as he examined it while she said, "Put your panties back on."

John held the white panties in his hand with a smirk before tossing them back at her and she caught them in mid-air.

"Don't tempt me," he smirked, pulling on his clothes and her eyes widened for a second as she smirked back, rising from the bed to get dressed as well.

"We'll be getting up soon for some target practice at the shooting range," he informed her. "My Staff Sergeant has to go over my report, and we won't get another mission till God knows when. Figured it'll keep us all sharp."

"I dunno about _you_ though," Penny smirked, slipping her shirt back on and stepping toward him as he pulled on his pants. She set her hands on his chest and gently ran her hands over his skin as she continued, "You hit the mark _several_ times tonight. You don't need any practice."

"Babe, you keep talking like that, and you'll be here all night," he ground out, his hands suddenly gripping her waist and pulling her against his body as she giggled.

"You think _I'd_ mind that?" she murmured, to which he growled in arousal.

"Penny, we need to sleep," he reminded _both_ of them as he slowly pulled his hands from her and she sighed in exasperation.

"Fine," she sighed, stepping away from him to find her pants and slip them on. John watched her with restrained desire as she buttoned herself up and stepped back toward him. "See you in the morning…_Sir_."

"Bright an early…_Huntress_," he nodded, making her smirk and she stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek before heading to the door.

He didn't move as he heard the door shut behind him then groaned in hopelessness at himself and the tightness of his pants.

"She's gonna be the goddamn death of me!" he ground out.

* * *

_Oh Seven Hundred the Next Morning..._

John walked down the line as his team shot at the targets across the field, examining them. Coming up behind Dax he frowned as the young man spun his pistols on his fingers before holstering them, then pulled them out again to shoot at his target again…effectively missing a few times.

"All that showin' off is makin' you aim like shit," he blurted, making Dax whirl on him with a glare. "You try that in a fire fight and you're gonna get your ass shot off."

"I'm too good to get shot," Dax smirked, setting his hands on his holstered pistols.

"And cocky, too," John sighed. "You've got a long way to go."

"How about you put your bullets where your mouth is?" Dax challenged and all background shooting ceased immediately as everyone turned their attention to the two as John lifted an eyebrow at the other man in amusement.

"You wanna run the course…against _me_?" John wondered if he heard right as the rest of the team glanced around at each other, warily.

"_Now_ who's the cocky one?" Dax retorted, his hands twitching on his pistols.

John instantly caught the action and before anyone knew what was happening, John had his standard issue 9 millimeter automatic pistol pulled from his holster strapped to his thigh and aimed between the younger man's eyes before Dax had his Steyr GBs halfway out of his holsters on his hips. The young man stared wide, grey eyes at his superior who only glared back at him with cold, green-hazels.

"Holy shit," Lenore breathed, speaking for everyone else who were speechless as they watched the scene.

"He's _fast_," Raphael breathed as well.

"Why don't you stick to practicing today, kid?" John advised in a low tone, slowly lowering his gun and holstering it again. "Trust me, you'll _never_ be ready to take me on."

"How can you come down on _me_ for bein' cocky when _you_-?"

"Dax."

All eyes shot to Penny as she stepped up next to him and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't argue," she advised. "Just go back to practicing."

Dax glared at her for a moment before yanking his shoulder from her grasp and turning to march down the field and toward the barracks as everyone watched him, still speechless.

"Damn," Rex sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as everyone turned frowns to him and he looked up to John, explaining, "I was hopin' to see some _real_ action between you two."

"Kid's got a lotta rage," Lucas sighed, cocking his submachine gun as everyone began to relax, examining their weapons for another round of practice.

"Isn't he the little rich kid of this bunch?" Raphael asked, sitting on a bench behind the firing line.

"No, that'd be Trent over here," Rex smirked, counting his bullets left in his clip and nodding to Trenton who stood behind him, examining his target through the scope of his sniper rifle.

"Very amusing, Dino Boy," Trenton called back, never looking from his scope and Rex slowly turned a glare to him but instantly turned back to count out his bullets again.

"Hey," Penny whispered to John as she suddenly appeared next to him and he looked to her with a frown. She lifted a hand and beckoned him to follow her as she walked away, making his frown deepen as he watched her before turning back to the team.

"Keep practicing," he ordered turning to follow Penny. "I'll be back."

"Oh, wonderful," Raphael muttered, making Lenore frown at him but she didn't turn completely from examining one of her throwing knives.

"What?" she asked, absently.

"Lover's quarrel," Trenton chuckled, finally lowering his rifle, making Rex laugh as well as the others shook their heads.

Penny and John stopped at another line, facing away from the team.

"Alright, Penny, what is it?" he sighed, pulling his hands behind his back and looking to her.

"You're strange, ya know?" she retorted making him frown slightly at her. "You've got mad reflexes, an energy surplus like no one I've ever met, and the day I met you…" She trailed off with a sigh as she lifted a hand to run it through her hair in thought before she continued, "You had holes, rips and tears in all over your uniform like you'd been to Hell and back, but there wasn't a scratch on you." She looked up at him and he looked away from her, trying to hide his anxiety at her observations. "I know you, but I _don't_ know you. Is that even possible?"

"Penny, we met not even two weeks ago," he reminded her. "You can't know _everything_ about me in that short amount of time."

"But I still feel like I know you," she mumbled, drawing his gaze back to her as _she_ looked away from _him_ this time. "It's just weird. After what you told me about Olduvai, and the way you _looked_…it just doesn't make sense to me."

"And it _won't_ until _I_ decide it will," he replied, drawing her amber gaze to his hazel-green one. "Trust me, Pen, you _don't_ wanna know everything about me."

"Yes, I do," she argued, gently. "I don't care what cruel shit happened to you. I wanna share your pain _and_ your happiness. Before meeting you, I didn't trust anyone. You saw me at my most vulnerable point and now you won't let me into _yours_? Does that seem fair?"

"No, it doesn't," John admitted. "But that's how it is. You wanna know something I'm not ready to share with you. Respect that and drop it."

Without another word, he turned and marched back toward the team as Penny watched him, gritting her teeth in rage before following him. She hoped that if she took his advise and kept her mouth shut about it, that he would eventually share his secret with her. He hadn't told her _everything_ about Olduvai. She could tell he'd left some gaps in the story, like how he got out of there when his sergeant and team had been killed or turned into those monsters. She knew he'd give in sometime.

_Maybe if I tell him I've fallen for him, he'd tell me?_ she thought as she reached the rest of the team and stepped in front of a target.

"Hey," Lenore murmured, coming up next to her and jolting her from her thoughts. "You ok? You look pale."

"I'm fine," Penny replied firmly, pulling up her Ithaca Model 37 Stakeout and taking careful aim before squeezing the trigger. She hit her target square in the head and lowered the gun as John stepped up behind her to examine the shot.

"Picturing _me_ on that target?" he smirked, trying to lighten the mood after their heavy discussion.

"Maybe," she shot back lowering her weapon to prepare it to fire again. "Go stand next to it and see which one I hit."

"Ooh, Reaper pissed off the Huntress," Rex smirked, hearing their conversation as he stood between Penny and Lucas. "She'll rip you to shreds if you're not careful, Sir."

"Don't I know it," John agreed, making Penny smirk because she knew what he _really_ meant. If he called her to his room that night, she was sure to give him what for.

* * *

_In the Barracks..._

Dax slumped forward, one of his pistols in his hands as he sat on his bunk, staring distantly at the thing. He played back what had happened with John on the practice field and clenched his jaw in rage before cocking his gun and standing, holstering it once more. He stood still for a moment, his hands hovering over the guns for a moment before he yanked them out and aimed ahead, imagining the barrels of the guns were pressed against John's and Penny's foreheads.

"Bam," he whispered, glaring ahead with an evil smirk. "Right between the eyes."

* * *

**A/N: **oh snap! reviews?


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